Flowers every day of the year? Yes, it’s possible in a home greenhouse, whether you are a beginner or an advanced specialist.
All that is necessary is to select those plants which grow well together – the only thing that will limit you is the size of your greenhouse.
Over the years, greenhouse men have discovered that the simplest way of grouping plants is by their night temperature requirements.
They have broken them down into three groups: plants that like either a cool, moderate, or warm temperature.
Of course, there can be much overlapping, and nothing pleases a greenhouse gardener more than his skill in proving exceptions to the rule.
Cool Greenhouse
The cool greenhouse (45°-50° degrees Fahrenheit at night) will give you the greatest show of midwinter color when needed. There are plenty of blooms to cut as well as brilliant potted plants to grow.
The fine thing is the big saving in fuel costs, which double with every five degrees you increase the temperature.
There are few expensive plants to buy as most are started from seed. Insects are less troublesome, too, for they do not multiply nearly as fast at low temperatures.
Plants to Try
Among the plants for the cool greenhouse is the Carnation. With a hundred or two plants, you can have flowers all winter long – beautiful and fragrant.
Stock is another beautiful flower to try. Its many-colored double blooms are much larger and better than is ever possible to achieve out-of-doors.
Then there are snapdragons with tremendous flower heads, Boston yellow daisies and marguerites that last so well when cut, chrysanthemums, bachelor buttons, sweet peas, larkspur, pansies, calendula, and we could go on and on.
Among the potted plants you can enjoy in a cool greenhouse are primroses, both the large obconical and taller malacoides, and bouvardia, always a joy for its delicately fragrant flowers in white and red.
Others you’ll want to try from year to year will include candytuft, cineraria, schizanthus (the poor man’s orchid), and those colorful balloon flowers of calceolaria.
An Array of Bloom
True, even a partial schedule for such an array of bloom takes planning and care, but anyone who has grown them will tell you the results make it worthwhile.
Camellias have become increasingly popular over the last few years. Perhaps it is because the blooms are so attractive and the plants are easy to handle.
You can have flowers from early fall to late spring with a good selection of early, mid-season, and late varieties.
There is a marvelous selection of colors and types, so you can have a splendid variety with only ten or twelve plants.
Outside of daily syringing and occasional feeding, they go merrily on. In the summer, plants practically take care of themselves in a lath house or other shady location.
The Moderate Greenhouse
The moderate-temperature greenhouse (50° – 55° degrees Fahrenheit) is the most popular. A greater variety of plants may be grown at this temperature than any other.
Less planting is also required, for most plants can be grown year after year with very little attention.
Many are also self-perpetuating – by rooting cuttings or making divisions, they can be enjoyed year after year.
Plants to Grow
Here are a few of the plants you can grow:
- Abutilon
- Astilbe
- Azaleas
- Begonias
- Calla lilies
- Christmas cactus
- Geraniums
- Gerbera
- Marigolds
- Streptosolen
- Many decorative foliage plants
You might also call the moderate-temperature greenhouse an in-between house. Many plants grown in both cool and warm greenhouses will grow satisfactorily at 50° to 55° degrees Fahrenheit.
Then, too, few greenhouses carry an even temperature throughout.
Plants requiring more warmth are placed near the roof or the heater, while those requiring cooler temperatures are placed on the benches or at the opposite end of the heater. You can even grow orchids in this manner.
Rare Plants
Some of the most unusual and choice plants are well suited to a moderate greenhouse. I often refer to them as “rare” because they are not usually found in flower shops or commercial greenhouses.
These include:
- Linaria triornithophora and the crinums
- Lotus Berthelotii
- Hoya carnosa
- Agapanthus
- Ornithogalum
- Passion flower
- Reinwardtia, and many others
Practically all of these are grown in pots, which has many advantages. They are easily handled and can be moved about as they bloom so that there is a continual flower show. When finished, they can be placed in the background or discarded.
The Warm Greenhouse
The warm greenhouse is popular with those who like to specialize in particular groups of plants. Most orchids, for example, want a night temperature of 60° to 65° degrees Fahrenheit and very high humidity.
Many greenhouse gardeners start with a cool or moderate greenhouse and switch to specializing in a warm one. Usually, it is orchids that are becoming increasingly popular among home greenhouse owners.
This is easily understandable because, contrary to popular belief, they require little care if you start with fairly large, flowering-size plants.
The plants are not too expensive either. If you don’t go in for the rare ones, you can buy plants for as little as $5 each.
Many plants are compatible with orchids, such as fancy-leaf crotons. There are endless varieties; ferns; small palms; promenades, anthuriums, and many others, sometimes termed exotics.
While requiring less humidity than orchids, other plants that do well in a warm greenhouse include:
- Gardenias
- Potted roses
- Stephanotis
- Gloxinias
- Allamanda
- African violets
- Poinsettias
- Clerodendrum
- Brunsvigia
- Acalypha
One of the greatest delights in the greenhouse is growing spring bulbs – tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, iris, lilies, and the like. You can bring them into flowers in any greenhouse heated 45° to 65° degrees Fahrnheit.
Of course, they come in faster at higher temperatures, but flowers are sturdier and last longer in the cool to moderate-temperature greenhouse.
Placing Greenhouse Partition
Placing a partition in the greenhouse may provide two temperatures for growing a wider variety of plants. Those who don’t wish to go to the expense of providing the exacting conditions possible with a glass partition and door can make a plastic partition in the form of a curtain.
Even without adjustments to the radiation, it is possible to create a difference of five degrees from one end of the greenhouse to the other.
These are just a few of the plants more commonly grown in home greenhouses. No doubt, after you have had your greenhouse for a little while, you will discover many others.
44659 by Ernest Chabot